Ryan Gander
The Artwork Nobody Knows, 2011
Artist
Ryan Gander
Title
The Artwork Nobody Knows
Year of creation
2011
Technology and dimensions
140 x 140 x 15 cm (base), 15 x 7 x 5 cm (figure)
Year of acquisition
2012
Acquisition of the foundation
Ryan Gander is now one of the most important and influential British artists of his generation. In addition to photography and video works, his work particularly includes sculptures and large-scale installations. His conceptual works always require a high degree of curiosity and intellectual flexibility on the part of the recipient. They are visually striking and encourage you to get to the bottom of this element of surprise.
The 3-part sculpture The Artwork Nobody Knows (2011) shows a figure lying on the floor, which is an likeness of Ryan Gander. The empty wheelchair immediately triggers associative processes in the viewer. In terms of proportion and materiality, the figure is very reminiscent of the plastic action figures that populate many children's rooms, such as: B. He-Man will never be on the losing side. Ryan Gander plays with the image of the fallen hero, but questions about what happened and what exactly happened remain unclear. The blue cube that lies on the ground in front of the figure is an important attribute throughout Gander's work and can be traced back to his fascination with the clear forms of modernism, the Bauhaus and De Stijl. An eerie game begins between uncertainty and relativization, which goes beyond what is visually visible. The type of presentation, on a low base or directly on the floor, is directly related to the work. The top view not only allows the viewer to have a complete overview of the entire scenario, but also stimulates their curiosity. If you get involved in this research, you end up in a game of serious or funny associations, visual references and linguistic allusions - a labyrinth with no end or exit.
“The Artwork Nobody Knows” (2011) can be seen as an example of Ryan Gander’s conceptual approach. His multifaceted works - with their self-referential core - often offer new perspectives and unusual perspectives. It is a joy of deconstruction and recombination taken to the extreme, capable of capturing all aspects of the world, from personal and family experiences, to the work of fellow artists and art historical references, to social and everyday phenomena.
Ryan Gander lives and works in London. His work has been shown in solo exhibitions in important international institutions, e.g. B. Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; MUMOK, Vienna; CCA Wattis Institute, San Francisco; South London Gallery, Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam; Villa Arson, Nice and Haus Konspektiv, Zurich. Gander has been awarded numerous prizes such as the Paul Hamlyn Award (2008) and the Zurich Art Prize (2009). Ryan Gander was a participant in the Biennale di Venezia – Illuminations / Illuminazioni, 2011, where The Artwork Nobody Knows was exhibited for the first time.
